Far too little attention is paid to one of Donald Trump’s chief claims, which he makes constantly: He fervently believes, or sure seems to, that the revenue from tariffs will be so great as to allow for the shutting down of the IRS and the end of income taxes.
Permit me to arm you with the answers to three fundamental questions. How much does the federal government spend every year? How much revenue does the federal government take in every year? And how much revenue might Trump’s tariffs generate once his plan is really up and running?
Answers to the first two questions: In 2024, the government spent about $6.75 trillion. In the same year, federal government revenues totaled $4.9 trillion. Yes, that made for a hefty budget deficit of $1.8 trillion, give or take, and that is certainly on the very high side, but that isn’t what we’re here to discuss today.
Now—let’s break down that revenue figure into its constituent categories. The largest chunk of that $4.9 trillion, about $2.4 trillion—or essentially half—came from income taxes. Another $1.7 trillion came from payroll taxes. About $530 billion came from corporate taxes (which Trump wants to lower again, so don’t expect that number to stay that high). Finally, $253 billion came from our old friend “Other.” The largest piece of the “Other” pie was excise taxes ($101 billion), which are taxes on things like airline tickets and so forth. “Other” also included the aforementioned $77 billion in tariff revenue, also known as customs duties.
In other words: To vaporize the IRS, Trump’s tariffs would need to produce $2.4 trillion in revenue. So, how’s that looking?
It’s looking insane is how it’s looking. As noted, the government is on pace to generate something north of $200 billion in tariff revenue this year. But let’s imagine that Trump’s wildest dreams are met or even exceeded. Will customs duties produce anywhere near $2.4 trillion?
No. Not even close. As in, nowhere near. He's an idiot.-greenman
Of course he's an idiot! However, he has about a year to make folks believe it before
reality catches up and they wind up paying income taxes yet again... and the next year and the year after that, while paying MORE out of pocket for living expenses.
Six times FOTUS showed us how to bankrupt a company
Posted by Pikes Peak 14115 on May 5, 2025, 11:47 am, in reply to "Yup!" ADMIN
No. 7 will be how to bankrupt our country if we allow him. So far, the do-nothing Congress is a BoD asleep and equally stupid to and about the CEO. The Courts mounted a defense. The CEO exceeded his authority by law. Yesterday he seemed to think he might not have an obligation to follow and adhere to the US Constitution. To say this publicly to a reporter, and not have it spread as the national news story of the day indicates as a country we're too sick to know we're sick, or how sick we are.
This summer of protests needs to include a few recall efforts to flip the House back to where trump can be legislatively confronted and stopped. Then for the midterms, we can reinfkorce the House and repair the Senate to where we can legally remove trump. You can look away from a painting, but you can't listen away from a symphony
Yep, he's on the way to that #7. That story DID crisscross the country though
on May 5, 2025, 9:53 am
